Boerne moved one step closer Monday to seeing a second Starbucks Coffee Co. outlet open in town, but not without a set of conditions that focus on traffic mitigation along one of the city’s major thoroughfares.
The Boerne Planning and Zoning Commission Monday voted 6-0 to approve a special use permit for LJA Engineering to allow the Starbucks Coffee Shop drive-thru at its 84 Herff Road location, near the intersection with Gallant Fox.
Discussion Monday centered primarily on the movement of traffic along Herff Road toward Main Street. Commissioners acknowledge the traffic problems evident just one mile away at the Herff and Esser Road intersection as among the worst rush-hour gridlock in the county.
The hearing Monday specifically focused on the allowance of a drive-thru lane for the coffee shop -- one portion of a two-tenant, 6,300 square-foot building: the 2,400-square-foot Starbucks to the west with a drive-thru lane, and an adjoining 3,900 square-foot retail space.
P&Z Chair Tim Bannwolf asked if establishing a deceleration lane along Herff — to allow traffic traveling west on Herff to exit Herff while slowing to enter the drive that wraps around the coffee chain — was an option.
The property is zoned C2, transitional commercial, and falls within the South Boerne (SOBO) overlay district.
Justin Hobson, a partner in Investcor LLC, Austin and the project developer, told P&Z commissioners the Starbucks contains a wrap-around drive that successfully “stacks” 11 vehicles without creating a bottleneck in the parking lot, or backing up onto Herff.
Additional space exists behind the shop and drive, Hobson said, allows for another 8-10 cars to line up, creating a potential queue of up to 20 vehicles.
The site plan contains 36 parking spots, he said, to allow customers to park and enter the building without fear of being blocked in by cars in the service line.
Commissioners shared their opinions of the project — from extra curb cuts to landscaping, entrance-and-exit-only lanes and parking — before coming to an agreement on stipulations they feel are necessary to grant the special use permit.
After more than 90 minutes of discussion, commissioners spelled out their four stipulations:
— A connection be established from the Starbucks lot to an existing cul-de-sac to the west, or to one presently being built to the east.
— A third-party traffic study be performed, primarily to weigh the need for a deceleration lane along Herff approaching the property.
— Establishing directional signage to bring customers in through a yet-to-be built cul-de-sac, to avoid vehicle “stacking” in space beside the building.
— The landscaping plan comply with SOBO overlay district and the city’s Unified Development Code requirements.
“That’s the issue for us today; what do we do with the drive-thru?” Bannwolf questioned. “If we get stacking on Herff, then we’ve done the community a disservice.”
P&Z Commissioner Susan Friar thanked Hobson and the JLA team for being patient with the commission as it draws nearer to its eventual recommendation for City Council.
“Somebody said, ‘This is a unique area of Boerne,’” Friar said. “We only get one chance to do this, and to do it well. Thank you for giving us the time to work through it, because we do want to do it ... right, the first time.”
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